Should we maintain a list of suspicious buyers and sellers?

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by RobertGT

Uh...seriously? I have been an eBay seller for about 14 years now. People back out of transactions, never pay and send rude and even threatening messages. A couple of times people have claimed to have never received cards when I knew for a fact they had. Ask anyone who runs even a small operation - it's all part of the cost of doing business. You open your unpaid item case, block bidder, recoup your fees, relist and move on.

Is it frustrating and annoying? Absolutely. Is it worth making a federal case out of it and creating a public thread to malign someone over $50? No. The truth is you don't know what the other person's situation is or what is going on in their life. I think the Adrian threads were a pretty good example of this, even though some of his dealings were definitely questionable.

Plus I am sure Leon and other mods have better things to do than babysit hundreds of he-said/she-said discussions all day long over minor spoiled ebay transactions.

Now if it's a big scam, at an institutional level (i.e. auction house/grading companies) or affecting hundreds of buyers, by all means out the scam. That's where this board really rocks.

I agree with Rob 100%

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

I agree with Rob 100%

\

Me too.

[cyseymour]

I think we need fewer witch-hunts and more focus on collecting. I know it is kind of a slow period of time where not many cards are up for auction, plus the playoffs haven't started yet. So there isn't much focus on cards or on baseball right now, it seems. Most of the popular threads have been on potential scammers and people who have already been thrown off the message board for bad behavior. Some of the recent accusations don't have much substance to them and seem to be a considerable amount of conjecture. But even if proven true, eventually, it gets tiresome. There's no reason to be involved in a hobby if your main focus is simply the greed and dishonesty displayed by some. But 95% of the folks out there are straight dealers. They deserve as much of our attention, if not moreso. Not to say that the big scams like Mastro don't deserve attention, or if people are getting ripped off really badly. But otherwise, let's try to stay positive and not obsess about it. Just my perspective.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Stuff trumps all. The tiny percentage of people who will take a stand and not buy from people whose fraud has been outed won't make a difference, in my humble opinion. The problem can only be solved -- if at all -- by law enforcement. If the most sophisticated financial crimes can be successfully prosecuted one would think a bunch of clowns trimming and sanding baseball cards wouldn't be that hard. Here's hoping that is true anyhow.

[ullmandds]

These "witch-hunts" have been warranted and justified. They're not being done out of boredom from what I have seen. I believe the cheaters...liars...crooks...and thieves need to be kept on the run...whether anything gets done to solve the problem or not...they just can't keep getting away with this!

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

These "witch-hunts" have been warranted and justified. They're not being done out of boredom from what I have seen. I believe the cheaters...liars...crooks...and thieves need to be kept on the run...whether anything gets done to solve the problem or not...they just can't keep getting away with this!

Yeah but we can't just forever be police officers... we need to enjoy the hobby as well, or what is the point? The last few threads I have seen... we had the thread on Adrian, who has already been banned from the boards. The thread on Joseph P. may have been warranted, but other than buying cards and cracking them out and having them regraded, what else was there... I didn't see any evidence of doctoring and all that they really had on him were some low bids on his own card. That's not a good thing, really, but other than that, there was the thread on Bubble Bath Girl that seemed unwarranted as everyone rushed to his defense. Just saying that lately we've had a lot of threads with people reaming each other out with little evidence of wrongdoing. Not saying that it is bad to expose liars and cheaters, just making the point that it can get tiresome and they will always be there. You can think you've gotten everybody but then the next ebay scam will just appear with some re-sealed wax pack or something. Yawn.

[Tao_Moko]

I come on here to see cards and learn about the hobby and baseball but somehow lack the discipline to avoid these threads. "Caveat Emptor" is all that is needed for me. I think the forum gets bogged down by posts not directly related to the cards. Sometimes they are warranted but many times they are unnecessary and why I have stepped away some and even left the hobby in the past. I would have to say " no" to the witch hunt.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by cyseymour

The thread on Joseph P. may have been warranted, but other than buying cards and cracking them out and having them regraded, what else was there...

Serisously? Did you miss the whole part of him shilling many, many of his own auctions?

[botn]

Originally Posted by cyseymour

The thread on Joseph P. may have been warranted, but other than buying cards and cracking them out and having them regraded, what else was there... I didn't see any evidence of doctoring and all that they really had on him were some low bids on his own card.

This is a joke, right? The cards that were shown in that thread were perfect examples of cards which had been doctored. Are we looking at the same pictures?

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by cyseymour

Yeah but we can't just forever be police officers... we need to enjoy the hobby as well, or what is the point?

You are absolutely right, Jamie. But how can you enjoy the hobby as a seller on Ebay if you are spending a substantial portion of your evening reading the feedback left for people bidding on your items? It seems to me that this list would make you less of a police officer, as it would help to eliminate many of the people that could cause you problems.



“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”--Edmind Burke

[Prof_Plum]

I voted "yes" in the poll but only because I wouldn't be the one having to deal with any issues that arise out of it. Of which, there would probably be plenty.

As I'm sure others do, I have a "saved sellers" list on ebay and add any names that come up from discussions here. It's up to 19 questionable sellers right now.